I always understood the meaning of grace but never really "understood" the meaning of grace in it's true form. A couple of weeks ago, my friend Erik told me I needed to read this book called The Ragamuffin Gospel. It wasn't like a "you need to read this book" because it is good or well written, but more of a "you need to read this book" because you need to read it. As I started reading it, something flowed over me very heavily. I have been missing out!! Grace is something beautiful. If you know me, you know I love Jesus. Not the Jesus in movies, not a Jesus that is an imaginary friend, but I love the Jesus that I know and that completely loves me.
Over the past years I have been steered in a direction where I was trying to earn grace. I would wake up and think that I "needed" to pray or "needed" to read my Bible. The truth is I should want to do these and understand that Jesus needs none of this from me, He loves me completely, no matter what!! When my little brain wrapped around this, one gigantic tear making thought raced through my head, sprinted through my veins, and left my bones shaking.
This thought, or discovery, is something most people know but I somehow let it fly right over my head. The thought was that when we start trying to earn grace, Jesus' bloody sacrifice, his long drawn out flogging, his public embarrassment of being mocked and tortured, his sacrifice for us on the cross, is all in vain. I then pictured Jesus sitting with his elbow on his knee and his chin in his hand, wondering if his sacrifice was for nothing. I pictured him watery eyed disappointed in me whispering, " Why Wes, why?"
I then realized, or remembered, Jesus came to free us from the law, to break the thousands of year old chains of sin from our wrists. He came to bring us life. Why? He truly loves us. Listen to me! Yes you! HE LOVES YOU! No matter what you have done in the past, what you constantly struggle with now, when you fail in the future, HE LOVES YOU!! This is love, this is life, this is grace.
